Re: Use of fungicide

Hi Jan,
I have found with our roses that picking off leaves with blackspot as soon as you notice them and taking the leaves out of the garden so they cant re-infest; along with making sure the roses are healthy – well fed with an organic fertiliser which has trace elements such as a seaweed solution along with some manure; watered enough but not too much; and also (important) changing watering regimes so that water is not sprayed onto or splashes onto leaves and watering doesn’t occur in the evening so that the plant is not damp... This combination ‘fixed’ our blackspot. Plants which three years ago lost all of their leaves to blackspot, now only get one or two affected leaves per year and when I notice these I pick them off and feed the plant. I hope this works for you, pruning the plants to allow more airflow may also help.

I am getting more and more interested in edible flowers and roses are great! Add them to wine sauces, dip them in egg white and sugar and sprinkle over cakes/icecream, add them to salads, butters, drinks. The white bit where the petals attach to the plants can be bitter (so cut off).

Goodluck,
Tamsin
Melbourne

On 14/4/03 12:30 AM, "Jan Puskarich" <flowerlady@stvleaze.net> wrote:

However, we get pretty humid here in Stephenville,Tx and two of my hybrid teas are showing signs of blackspot. The antique roses show no signs of it yet. Will it harm my beneficials if I spray fungicide on the affected roses? Thanks to all you great gardeners out there!Jan